Almost three years ago exactly I found this vintage tulip table at one of my favorite shops here in Salt Lake Fantastic Mr. Finds. You cant tell from the picture but it was pretty beaten up. The base was badly scratched and the paint was chipped. The table top was dinged and the underside was warped.
But I didn’t care.
I fell in love with it and knew with a little TLC it could be beautiful again.

So I strapped in on the top of my minivan and brought it home.
You should have seen the Mr’s face when he pulled up to the house to see this thing flipped upside down on the top my the car.

My plan was to replace our farmhouse table with this vintage Burke.

I loved that farmhouse table but it was a little too long for the space. I had good intentions of selling the farmhouse table but it got lower and lower on the to-do list as time went on.

As for the tulip table…I took the white top off and donated it. Then I had the tulip base powder-coated and nice crisp white for $75.
Then it sat.
And sat.
And sat.
And sat in our basement for almost three years until that one fateful day when I was ready.

Truth be told, one of the reasons it took me so long to bring up the table was because marble and fabrication is no cheap ticket. My plan was to find a remnant to cut instead of having to purchase a whole slab. Unfortunately, remnants are small and just that…a remnant of a slab. Finding a white piece of marble to fit my 70″ x 45″ shape was next to impossible. Having said that going this route would be much less expensive than buying a new tulip table which cost several thousands. Even the reproductions cost way more than what I could do mine for.

Buehner Marble did the fabricating of the marble. All said and done it was around $1400. Again, not cheap but just trying Googling Saarinen and check out the prices.

I was so excited I neglected to take a picture of how we put it together but the Mr. cut a piece of plywood which the attached to the tulip base. There is about a 9″ marble overhang around the plywood base. We then attached the marble to the plywood base using an industrial strength adhesive.

Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday.
It’s the one day I can go full on red and pink legally (that’s major when you’re living in a house full of men).

So pink and red I went.
Believe it or not these “fine-China” dishes are actually our everyday dishes.

I used to be an all-white dish gal.
But then I noticed something…

My white dishes where all scratched up but my antique dishes weren’t. Depending on the material they are made of some dishes are more durable and wear better. So I got rid of all my cheap-o dishes and started to collect and use beautiful antique dishes. Not only did they hold up better but they are so beautiful.

All that beautiful wedding China that people use once a life time? Yup. We use it as everyday-ware.
90% of everything on this table is either thrifted or second-hand and used everyday.

So what’s for dinner? My boys have it in their head that spaghetti is a romantic meal.
Remember Lady and the Tramp?
They think we’re gonna each eat a spaghetti noodle and meet in the middle with a kiss.
Hmm?

I’m finding that open shelving is an exercise in artistic constraint.
Turns out they are a perfect magnet for clutter.
Keeping them looking visually lovely AND family functional is a challenge.

I’ve had to train my kids as to what is allowed to go on the shelves and what isn’t.
My youngest claimed the shelves for his toys which can’t happen with a mother who is designer fussy.
So instead we made a compromise.

A friend gave me this old wine crate which has been in the garage full of dust and cobwebs.

I painted a little first aid cross on it to give it character and make it a little more visually interesting.

I then picked up a package of 4 caster wheels at Home Depot for under $5.00 and attached them to the bottom corners of the crate.

Now it’s an instant toy box to corral all his toys.

The casters are perfect for rolling the box all over the house without scratching up the wood floors.

Always have to be thinking outside the box for clever ways to hide clutter.
Happy boy. Happy Mom.